This date commemorates the day when Oregon adoptees were to regain access to their original birth certificates after the successful Measure 58 ballot initiative.

Adopted adults and those who support them gather for an hour or 2 in front of Vital Records Offices around the United States, handing out flyers on open records for adult adoptees, educating the public, and symbolically trying to get a copy of their original birth certificate via phone mail or fax around the nation. Adoptive and Birth family members are also welcome to participate.

Please join us! It's only for an hour and it makes a big difference! If there's no registered NARD site near you yet, please read below and consider joining as a site leader!

SIX EASY STEPS TO NARD

1. Be Available: Make sure you can be available for 1 - 2 hours in the middle of the day on Friday, December 3^rd, 1999.We try to have most of the NARD events in a 1 - 2 hour timeslot, depending on the schedules of the local leaders.Last year most NARD events were scheduled from 12 Noon - 1 pm. Find out the hours of your local Vital Records office and schedule it to be during a 1 - 2 hour time slot when the office will be open.
2. Join the NARD Community at Onelist: Go to http://www.onelist.com/community/NARD , register and join the NARD Community. Ask to receive messages to your email to keep on top of what's going on with NARD. Check the "Files" and "Links" links periodically for helpful materials. If you have problems accessing Onelist, email Denise Castellucci at voices@ibar for assistance.
3. Contact your local Vital Records Office: You can find this information at http://www.vitalrec.com.  Find out their address and their hours of  business on Friday, December 3^rd.If they will be open from Noon to 1, plan to have your NARD event during that time slot. If not, select a time when they will be open and confirm your site's location and time by emailing nard@bastards.org or posting to the NARD community on Onelist.
4. Get Volunteers: Once you confirm your NARD site, the NARD national coordinators will get your site and contact info. up on the NARD websites.  You will be the contact for your local NARD event. You only need a handful of people to do NARD (sites have even been done with one person!) but the more, the merrier!  Use the Local Outreach flyer at http://www.bastards.org/nard/Localout.htm and printouts from the website to get others involved. Feel free to contact local adoption activism, search and support groups, and to invite your friends and family members to participate. Post info. on your site to various adoption-related websites, email lists and Usenet newsgroups if you like. You can find lists of adoption search and support groups by state at the following urls.  Let them know about your site and see if they want to participate. NARD is fun!  Adoption groups: http://www.bastards.org/local; http://www.webcom.com/kmc/adoption/faq-2.html, http://www.webreflection.com/aiml/support.html, http://www.adoptiontriad.org/netsupport.htm (by state)
5. Get Materials: You will want to have handouts and signs at your NARD site. Suggested hand-outs include "Open Records: Why it's an Issue" at http://www.bastards.org/activism/or.htm and local/national press releases explaining NARD and its purpose. You can buy foamcore board or print on white cardboard relevant slogans like "Equal Rights for Adopted Citizens Now", "Our Records, Our Right", and "Why is my Birth Certificate a State Secret?" You can find these on the NARD website and in MS Word format on the NARD Onelist Community site.  You can get more ideas from the NARD Community. NARD may not be used to advertise any for-fee search services and is not a search event.
6. Get Press: Format a version of the NARD Press Release for your local site and send it to local TV, newspapers, and radio. If you are a registered NARD site leader you can also use the National Press release (available in early November) and include your name as the local contact. TOGETHER WE CAN DO IT!